Early Times Report
Jammu, Dec 15: Jammu continues to face power crises as the Power Development Department (PDD) has failed to upgrade the power transmission network to a level of providing "decent electricity as needed by the winter capital region."
Official sources said whereas the unrestricted demand for electricity for the Jammu is atleast 1,024 Megawatts during the winter months, when the durbar move is the city, the power development is even not able to provide the restricted demand of electricity, which is supposed to be lesser.
Explaining the issue, a senior official in the PDD said the restricted demand of electricity in Jammu is at least 938 Megawatts, but that the PDD was able to provide no more than 819 Megawatts -resulting in shortage of around 120 Megawatts.
He said if the shortage is calculated with regard to the unrestricted demand, it would be of over 200 Megawatts for the Jammu region.
Officials said this huge deficit between demand and supply of power leads to power crises in the region, which also houses most of the industrial units in the union territory.
With Jammu running sh People seek LG Murmu's intervention
Officials said the PDD has failed to upgrade the system in Jammu to the level where capacity of electricity supplies in the region would have been up to the mark. "The other problem is that the northern grid is not giving enough energy supplies and thus Jammu continues to suffer unheard," the official said.
Experts said the power crises in Jammu region can be overcome if the Lieutenant Governor GC Murmu picks up the issue of power deficit with New Delhi.
"Basically Jammu was never the priority of successive regimes in the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir but now that a Union Territory has been established he(LG) can use his good offices to end the gap between the demand and supply of energy," said a senior official asking not to be named.
When contacted a senior official in the PDD admitted that Jammu was witnessing shortfall of around 200 MWs of power. "We are unable to bridge the demand-supply gap," he added. | 